Rushton Conservative Global Market Neutral Fund

The Rushton Conservative Global Market Neutral Fund, is a professionally managed ‘absolute return’ investment open to wholesale clients investing a minimum of $250,000. With a targeted gross exposure of only 100% (50% long and 50% short), i.e. no leverage, it is suited to investors who are seeking an investment with minimal share market risk, a high level of diversification, and a low level of volatility. Due to its low correlation to most other investments, it has the ability to enhance the return of an overall investment portfolio, whilst, at the same time, lowering risk.

Wholesale Clients

Unless the Manager determines otherwise, each applicant must be a “wholesale client” as defined under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act). If you apply for less than $500,000 of Units in the Fund, you will be required to provide evidence that you are a wholesale client. This may include providing a certificate given within the preceding two years by a qualified accountant confirming that the applicant is a wholesale client.

Some of the key benefits of investing in the Rushton Conservative Global Market Neutral Fund are:

Investment objective

The fund aims to consistently deliver positive returns, through up, down and flat market conditions, with little or no net exposure to global equity markets, and an overarching focus on capital preservation.

Minimal share market risk, due to our market neutral approach

Being market neutral, we construct a portfolio containing two sub-portfolios, i.e. a long and a short sub-portfolio, and hold approximately equal dollar amounts of both long and short positions, which largely removes share market risk. Rather than generate a profit from the upward movement of the share market, as in a normal share investment, in our market neutral investment, a profit is made when our highly ranked (long) portfolio outperforms the lowly ranked (short) portfolio – regardless of whether the share market moves up or down. This allows our disciplined investment strategy to operate without the concerns of a share market correction, or crash. Full details of how our market neutral strategy works are provided in the Information Memorandum. Click here for a copy.

The strategy has the ability to perform equally well in both good and bad times

The investment strategy has the ability to perform equally well in both good and bad times, meaning that performance of the Fund is not based on favourable economic conditions, or rising asset prices. This is different to most other investments, including shares and property, which largely rely on continually rising asset prices, and consequently, these investments usually perform poorly when asset prices are stagnant, or falling. As most investors have few investments in their portfolio that have the ability to perform well in bad times, they tend to suffer sizeable losses when economic conditions deteriorate, and could therefore benefit by including an investment that has the ability to perform well under these adverse conditions. How this works is explained in detail in the Information Memorandum. Click here for a copy.

Very liquid

We only invest in the largest and most heavily traded Instruments, providing a high level of liquidity. Monthly withdrawals are available. For full details, please refer to the Information Memorandum. Click here for a copy.

Highly diversified investment

It is often said that ‘diversification is the only free lunch in finance’ and effective diversification is central to our approach to investment management. Firstly, our strategy is based on multiple investment themes, that each generate profits at different times, and under a range of market conditions. These various themes provide for strong diversification at the strategy level. Further, the strategy is spread over 600+ Instruments in multiple countries across the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. This high level of diversification assists in smoothing overall performance, as it is our objective to maintain stability and consistency through all economic conditions. A full explanation is provided in the Information Memorandum. Click here for a copy.

Minimal currency exposure

As the security for all international positions is primarily held in Australian dollars, and there are approximately equal amounts of both long and short exposure in each currency (i.e. the strategy is currency neutral, as well as market neutral), the effect of currency movements is minimal. The proportion of overall risk that can be attributed to currency exposure is so small that it does not negatively impact the strategy in a significant manner. The end result of being currency neutral is that investors achieve the benefits of international diversification across many countries, without the constant worry of currency movements. For a full explanation, refer to the Information Memorandum. Click here for a copy.

Low correlation to the returns from shares and other traditional asset classes

The most effectively managed investment portfolios combine acceptable investments that are lowly correlated to each other, which provides true diversification benefits, and adds considerable value to the overall investment portfolio. It is even more important to ensure that these low correlations are sustainable over time – even under the worst possible economic conditions, i.e. when asset prices are falling, and the diversification benefits are needed the most. By combining lowly correlated investments that each produce an acceptable risk-adjusted return over time, it is possible to enhance investment performance without increasing overall risk. See the Information Memorandum for further details. Click here for a copy.

Carefully managed volatility

With only a targeted gross exposure of 100% (50% long and 50% short), and minimal share market exposure due to our market neutral approach, annualised standard deviation is targeted at below 3%. We aim to maintain volatility at these conservative levels, and to produce a good return for the level of volatility accepted. In other words, we aim to generate a high risk-adjusted return. Request the Information Memorandum for full details. Click here for a copy.

Extensive risk management guidelines

We believe that if an investment strategy is grounded in sound academic theory, combined with a practical knowledge of market dynamics, it should continue to provide strong returns over the medium to long term, provided the various risks inherent in the process are managed well.

Our risk management procedures ensure that only those risks which we consider to be conducive to positive long-term performance are accepted, and those that don’t, are either eliminated, if at all possible, or if not, are carefully controlled. Risk management is not simply about addressing common risks either, as risks that occur rarely (tail risks), are also carefully identified and managed to the fullest extent possible.

Note: There are a number of risks associated with investing in the Fund, including Manager risk. The success of the Fund is dependent on the ability of the Manager to identify investment opportunities that achieve the Fund’s investment objective. We recommend you review all the risks discussed in the Information Memorandum, in consultation with your professional adviser.

Copyright 2014 Rushton Financial Services Pty Ltd ABN 22 601 242 102 (“RFS”) is an Authorised Representative (Number 470826) of Australian Fiduciaries Limited ABN 22 601 228 844, AFSL No.465658. Before making an investment decision, investors should consider whether the investment is appropriate to their needs, objectives and circumstances. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The Information Memorandum contains important information about investing in the Fund and it is important investors obtain and read a copy of the Information Memorandum before making a decision about whether to acquire, continue to hold, or dispose of units in the Fund. You should also consult a licensed financial adviser before making a decision in relation to the Fund. An investment in the Fund is subject to risk, and you may lose some of your investment in the Fund. In addition, the Fund’s return is not guaranteed, and no assurance can be given that the Fund’s objectives will be met.